Bay Area weather experts don't foresee an impact from Hurricane Hilary moving toward the region, according to models generated by the National Weather Service, the agency said Friday.
While Southern Californians wrap their heads around the idea of a hurricane heading there, residents of Central and Northern California await their fate as Hurricane Hilary barreled toward the Baja California peninsula Friday.
Local weather experts following the storm say that it most likely will head northeast, sparing the greater Bay Area but possibly resulting in more rainfall in the southern part of Monterey County.
"The impact is probably a minimum, especially for the North Bay," said Crystal Oudit, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Hilary is a first. Earlier Friday, National Hurricane Center issued its first-ever tropical storm watch for Southern California, stretching from the border up to the Los Angeles County line.
On Friday night, NWS issued a first ever tropical storm warning for parts of Southern California.
On Saturday night, the hurricane was downgraded to a Category 1. But it will still bring heavy rain and the potential for life-threatening flash flooding in Southern California.
Governor Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency on Saturday evening, ahead of Hilary's expected arrival Sunday. The declaration speeds response and recovery efforts.
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The Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) said that it is coordinating across agencies to "support state and local preparations" for any impacts of the storm.
"The State Operations Center in Mather, California is already actively coordinating an early, unified and orderly response across state agencies to surge resources to the impacted region in preparation for potential impacts and to support response and recovery efforts in the aftermath of the storm," said Cal OES. "In particular, the state is working closely to protect Californians who may be most at risk for the impacts of the storm."
NBC Los Angeles contributed to the report.
